Best Public Fore PLay

What makes Bennett Valley Golf Course your pick for best Sonoma County public golf course? It's simple. In a sport that's often seen as exclusive and stuffy, Bennett Valley is for the people. It's not a hacker's course, but neither is it an imposing, challenging beast. Like every good municipal course, Bennett Valley accommodates golfers of all ages and ability levels.

Now in its 40th year, Bennett Valley has been home to memories both good and bad. For every tournament win, hole-in-one or quick smile from longtime manager John Flachman, regulars also remember all too well the flat greens, modest little pro shop and flooded fairways of yesteryear.

But Bennett Valley wasn't abandoned to Tin Cup–like erosion. The front and back nine switched places. The greens were redone, adding more slope. The drainage was improved, the parking lot expanded. And the crown jewel is the recent rebuilding of a new pro shop and bar, which added a full restaurant and banquet facility where once there was just a tiny snack bar. With Bob Borowicz now at the helm, and with the oak- and eucalyptus-dotted fairways looking better than ever, Bennett Valley Golf Course—like Nicklaus at the 1986 Masters—has officially come out of hibernation.—G.M.